Bonding progress week 3

We've had a few set backs this week.

I'm not sure if it's the TV now being in the lounge.

Monday- Took the pouch out and stroked them through it for ages while we were watching DVDs.  Lots of happy popping sounds.   Not very interested in being out or playing though.

Tuesday- LOTS of crabbing.  I took the pouch out and rested it on my chest.  They crabbed, and crabbed for about 8 minutes. They seemed really unsettled.  When they woke up they didn't want to be out of the cage or play.  Tera wasn't interested in her cat toys.

Wednesday- Today was much better.  I sat with their pouch on my chest for over an hour stroking the outside and they 'popped' happily.  They crabbed a bit when they were waking up, but I think that was 'get your foot out my face' crabbing at each other.
When they came out to play Plo ran about on me a bit and jumped from me to the cage etc, but not as enthusiastically as last week. Tera came and climbed on me too (after Plo went back into the cage). I'm really pleased!
She wasn't too interested in her cat toys today though.

 Thursday - Really cute!  Didn't get the pouch out before they woke up today, I brought them out as they were stirring. They didn't stay out long, they played a few minutes then made a dash for the cage, lots of playing in the cage though. Tera was going mad for her cat toys and we got lots of lovely pics.

She also seems keen on destroying pom poms.  I got some pom poms to make a treat ball pool, but they've not been too interested in it so far.


Friday- Came out and played for a wee while.  Lots of games inside the cage again.

Saturday- Much the same.  Plo came out and jumped from me to the cage a few times, ran about all over the outside, then went back home.
Tera sat on my hand for a while.  She really enjoyed chasing her cat toys.  Both jumped in and out the ball pool.  Tera took the pom poms out to shred, and Plo foraged for treats.

Glider enrichment

I think it's really important to keep pets active using different techniques and the more intelligent an animal is the more stimulation they need. Gliders are very intelligent animals.  I have read (don't remember where, I will try to find this) that they have the problem solving skill of a five year old child.

I am a new glider owner, but have been reading about them extensively for several months, and have found out a lot about their behaviors and needs.

This thread will contain my different enrichment ideas and how my gliders respond to them.

COMPANY!
THE most important enrichment for a glider is the company of another glider.  I firmly believe that it is cruel to keep a single glider as no amount of human company can make up for the interaction with one of it's own kind.  My gliders squabble A LOT but also really enjoy chasing each other and cuddling up to sleep.  They live in colonies in the wild and thrive on the company of others.

Housing:
It is important that the gliders have stimulation in their daily environment.
My gliders have a stealth wheel, a piece of cork bark and several areas to jump on.  There are also fleece plaits hanging for them to climb on. They love natural branches and both enjoy ripping off the leaves.

Exercise:
Gliders need out of cage time to exercise daily.  This should be at least an hour.  Ideally 2 or more.

Diet:
Food can also play an important part in enrichment for your gliders.  Giving different types of food is enrichment in itself.  I am using a different 'recipe' every week to give them variety.

You can also present food differently.  Wrapping food in leaves (such as spinach, that can be part of the recipe) or presenting it as a kebab can make mealtimes more interesting for your gliders.  Hiding food around the cage can also help, but be careful to check that they have actually been finding it!


I have recently tried them with a 'ball pool'.  They were very wary at first, but I left a few pom poms in the cage for them to get used to, and last night they were foraging in it happily.

Gliders are all individuals with different personalities, so what entertains one might not be interesting to another.  We've only had ours 3 weeks (today:) !) and already we have found that they like very different things.

There is nothing Plo likes better than running and jumping.  He spends hours in his stealth wheel and rarely sits still.  He is always jumping around the cage.  He has little interest in toys so far, but loved jumping in the ball pool.

Tera often sits in or on her cork bark tube and can be fairly inactive for long periods. She loves chewing and shredding the cork.  She also enjoyed ripping apart the pom poms. Tera also loves chasing cat toys and pulling out the feathers.

I think they will have very different  responses to any enrichment, but I'll keep track of them here.

More enrichment ideas can be found on the forum



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Bonding progress week 2

Sunday-  When I let them out they jumped about under the cage a bit and ran around the outside.  Tera hid behind the wheel.

Monday- Same as Sunday.  Offered yogurt and they came to the main landing pad type door for a taste.

Tuesday- Much the same.  Plo is getting more interested in us, Tera mostly hides when she's out but happily comes for yogurt if I put my hand in the cage.

Wednesday- Plo was happily walking all down my sleeves and along my back.

Thursday- Plo was happy to jump to me WITHOUT TREATS!! I was SO happy! :D  He climed all over me and jumped repeatedly from me to the cage and came back when I offered my hand and called.  I really feel that he is bonding to me.

Friday- Tera was happily chasing cat toys and Plo was doing more of his lovely jumping. 

Saturday- They got a bit freaked out by Dr Who.  Every time the Daleks spoke they crabbed.  I suppose dalek sounds like people crabbing to them. They came out and played for a while.

Sunday- I gave the cage a full clear out and clean.  I got some lovely apple branches from a friend (cleaned with animal disinfectant on Saturday) and they LOVE them. They're showing really natural behaviours, jumping and stripping bark and leaves.  They were super excited with their new layout!  They didn't come out, we opened the door but there were too many exciting things going on inside, so we left them to explore.

Bonding seems to be going well!

Recommended suppliers (and not)

 This information is based solely on my own experiences of these companies and of my gliders feelings about products.  Gliders can be fickle and what one likes another may not.  I've heard that lots of gliders love rosemary so I gave mine a sprig. They sniffed it once, tugged at it a bit then ignored it.  It was still untouched in the morning. LOL.

Scottish sugar gliders where I got my supplements, my pouches and my gorgeous gliders!
My supplements were reasonably priced,  the pouches are double thickness, high quality fleece with easy open catches and my gliders are well socialised, healthy, happy and totally adorable!! I was given lots of information about gliders and lots of opportunity to ask questions.  I could not fault Scottish Sugar gliders as a breeder and supplier.
:D

Sugar glider shop where I got my stealth wheel and some lovely treats.  My gliders love their stealth wheel, especially Plo who lived on it from day 1.  The 'trim trax' are great too, trimming your gliders nails while they run! 
My babies weren't too interested in any yogurt drops or fruit treats at the moment (but they get a lot of lovely fruity yogurt for bonding, so maybe they're spoiled! I'll try again in a few weeks).  I've got a packet of sugar can I'm sure they'll LOVE but I'm saving it since they're getting so many treats at the moment.
Marie is hugely experienced with gliders, is happy to answer questions about animals and products and has her own very useful forum full of glider genius!

Zooplus where I got my Montana Villa Casa 3 at half retail price, I got some lovely coconut houses (that the babies don't seem too interested in, but they look nice) and a piece of cork bark tube that Tera LOVES! She sits in or on it most of her waking hours.  She hides in it, jumps on it and shreds it.  I will definitely be getting more cork tubes for her.  Plo is totally indifferent and just uses it as another jumping off point.

I'd had LOADS of problems with my cage delivery (DHL totally mucked it up and my cage arrived damaged) but Zooplus were great.  I got a gift voucher from them and got the babies lots of goodies.
I also got a silk terrarium plant, they hide behind it but don't seem interested otherwise.

The cage is awesome! It's really big and easy to access.  The big front doors open up to 'landing pads' which they happlily leap to and play on.  It's a lovely colour (I got cream & chocolate), not that that matters to the gliders, but it's a bonus! My only complaints would be the instructions were truly rubbish (it took us over 2 hours to put together, if the instructions had been better it would have been about 30 mins), zoo plus did send me colour, photo ones when I complained.  The trays on the bottom come off their runners easily on the way in and out, and it's noisy when they do! The gliders don't seem to mind though.

September update:
I have recently joined a new Sugar glider forum it's great.  Lots of opportunity to ask questions and share ideas.  I would encourage any new pet owner to join something like this to chat about pros and cons, things to prepare yourself for etc before getting a pet.


 

Bonding progress week 1

It's been a really eventful so far!

Since they're not fully used to us yet I have been cleaning out the cage and feeding them while they're asleep. So far it's 15 mins daily changing paper in the tray, wiping round the wheel, cleaning out any left over food.
5 mins every evening feeding them and changing their water.
It takes me about 30 mins once a week to make up their diet for the week (to freeze). I take today's portion out the freezer when I come home from work.

The first night we didn't go near them at all.  We occasionally sat by the cage and chatted to them but didn't put fingers in etc. We could see that they weren't afraid of us (no crabbing etc) but they weren't interesed in us either.

Monday & Tuesday night we fed them yogurt from our fingers through the bars and talked to them.  They seemed to really like this. 
Here's Tear enjoying her yogurt:
Tera enjoying her yogurt

Wednesday night I put my whole hand inside the cage and let them jump on for yogurt.  This went slowly at first, but they were fine by the end of the night.

Thursday I sat up till 3.30am playing with them inside the cage.

Friday we took the pouch out and sat it on my knee, I coaxed them out with yogurt.  Once they woke up (and gobbled up the yogurt) they scurried down the back of the sofa and we had a nightmare getting them back out, the gap between the sofa and the wall's really small.
We had 'glider proofed' our lounge before we let them out (no cables or small spaces etc) and there's nothing down the back of the couch to harm them, but I freaked out that I couldn't see where they were or what they were doing.
When we presented the pouch to Tera she hopped right in, but Plo wasn't interested.  He ran round the outside of the cage but didn't seem to know how to get in.  I had to pick him up and put him in, he was reluctant to let go of the bars, but I took his feet off one by one and he was fine. Not even any crabbing. :)

On Saturday we waited until they were awake and opened the main front door so they could hop out themselves.  This seemed to work because now they understand where the doors are and that they can hop in and out.

They ran around on and under the cage for about half an hour, then got fed up and went home.  Plo ran straight back to his stealth wheel, he loves it!

Week 1 was pretty awesome!

We have been REALLY lucky that we found a really good breeder, Scottish sugar gliders and our babies were already well socialised when we got them.  Many people spend weeks getting their gliders to let them put their hands near them and get nothing but crabbing.  We don't have to tame them from scratch, all the hard work has been done for us and we just have to let them get used to us at their own pace.

Proud glider parents

We picked up our joeys on Sunday the 19th of August.

Since we had a 3 hour drive to get them we set of early and had lunch before we collected them.  They woke up about 10 mins into the journey and crabbed a bit, but quickly settled down for the rest of the trip.

When we got them home and hung up their pouch in their new cage I'd expected them to come out and have a hunt around at their new surroundings, they didn't.  They slept, and they slept, and they slept.  Just after 9pm they popped their little heads out and started exploring.  They quickly found a new favorite pouch, the one higher up in the cage, and started playing on their stealth wheel.

On Sunday night our little boy, Plo kept kicking his sister out the wheel and I was worried we'd need another, by Monday night he only kicked her out once or twice, and by Tuesday it was fine.

They are totally adorable!